1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a material comprising a porous polymeric plate having a polymeric gel enclosed therein, more specifically, to a material suitable for use as a support plate in electrophoretic analysis.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Electrophoretic methods can be classified as free electrophoretic methods in which an electrode is directly inserted into a sample solution without using a support and zone electrophoretic methods in which a solvent is included in a support and the solute is migrated therein. Zone electrophoretic methods have high utilitarian value because of the characteristic features thereof. For example, complete separation of the sample can be effected and dyeing or other chemical reactions can take place on the support. Moreover, either small or large samples can be handled. Zone electrophoretic methods are very effective for analyzing and isolating proteins such as blood serums.
Depending upon the support plate used, zone electrophoretic methods can be further classified into filter paper electrophoretic methods, cellulose acetate electrophoretic methods, agar electrophoretic methods, polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic methods and starch gel electrophoretic methods. In these methods the support plate includes filter paper or a sheet such as an acetate film, a polymeric gel membrane such as agar, polyacrylamide or starch, or a polymeric gel supported on a carrier such as a glass sheet or a plastic film.
The present invention is directed to an improvement in the support used in electrophoresis consisting of a polymeric gel supported on a carrier.
In order to perform electrophoresis using a polymeric gel supported on a carrier, it has previously been the practice to use a support prepared by sealing a polymeric gel in a tube (column) of glass or a plastic or a support prepared by placing a polymeric gel on a sheet of glass or plastic. The preparation of the columnar supports, however, requires substantial expertise, and it is time-consuming and troublesome to place the gel into columns one at a time. Furthermore, due to dispersion in support preparation, the precision of analyzing samples suffers. The high cost of such column materials is also a drawback.
On the other hand, it is also time-consuming and troublesome to prepare supports by placing a gel on a sheet, and manufacturing difficulties are often encountered, for example, the gel tends to break when coating the sample on the support.
Furthermore, when it is desired to dry and store electrophoretically recorded images after fractionating a sample on the support, the gel tends to come off the sheet because of shrinkage, or curling takes place, or the gel is very susceptible to breakage. Hence, meticulous care and expert skills are required for electrophoretic analysis using such a material.